Improvement in preserving- wood fhom decay and mildew



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Letters Patent N 94,626, dotted September?" 7, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRESI-ERVIN@ WOOD FROM DEC'AY .AND MILDEW.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To ali whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTOINE R. MoNAIn, of the city, county, and State ofNewYork, have invented a `new and improved Process of Preserving Woodfrom Mould or Decay; and I do hereby declare that the following is ageneral description thereof, which will enable others skilledin the artto4 perform and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making part of this specication, of which- Figure 1 is a topview of the apparatus in which I conduct my process;

Figure 2, a front elevation;

Figure 3, au end elevation;

Figure' 4, a horizontal section, showing retort;

Figure-5, a transverse section; and

Figure 6, a central and vertical section of saine.

It is well known that when wood is cut down and exposed to the changesof heat and moisture, it becomes affected by'its antiseptics beingpartially lost, and the sap of the wood decayed or pntriied, andconsequent mould or decay of the wood ensues; and, to prevent this decayoi' the wood is, therefore, the object ot' the present invention, which,from repeated eX- perirnents, I am confident I have accomplished by mynew process, which consists in conducting the process Vin a peculiarapparatus, so constructed and arranged that the preservative materialsare transferred from one vessel to another', and the surplus returned,withont exposure to the atmosphere.; and in' the process thereinconducted, rst, of heating wood and timber with steam, to coagulate itsalbuminous matter and extract deleterious substances therefrom, and thesubsequent Vcondensation ofthe steam, to produce a vacuum, and thewithdrawal of the extracted and condensed substances fromthe vessel;second, the impregnation of the wood with the simple vapors of creosote,or carbolic acid, and the subsequent partial condensation of the sametherein; third, the sealing of the pores with a liquid resinouspreservative substance, while the temperature is still keptcomparatively high, and the antiseptic vapors still partially occupy theinterior pores ofthe wood.

I will further explain my process by reference to the drawings, in whichA, B, and C, indicate three cylinders, in which I conduct mywood-preserving process.

In the middle cylinder A, iig. 4, are pipes, H,'int0 which I insert,through a faucet at one side of the man-hole D, my preservativecompound, which consists of creosote, or carbolic acid, and I close thefaucet x to the pipes, and put rosin into cylinder A outside the pipesH, and close the man-hole D. I next put the timber' to be treated intocylinder B, and close said cylinder, and turn on steam at 2120Fahrenheit, or upward, through pipes 71. into cylinder A, and throughpipe e into cylinder B, the connection F K between cylinders A and Bbeing closed, and I allow the steam into both vessels separatelyforabout two hours, until the wood is perfectly heated, and the albumen ofthe sap coagnlated; and, after the temperature is suiiiciently great togenerate steam from water, the pipe x, which connects pipes H with theoutside, is opened to allow steam from water inpipes H (ifany)to escape,

and thus leave the vapor, generated from creosote or` carbolic acid,unadnlterated, or prevent them from being driven from the wood by thegreater force of the steam generated from water',

fVhen the steam is turned ott' from cylinder B, and a vacuum obtained bycondensation of the steam in cylinder B, (the air ham'ng been previouslyblown out of cylinder B, through 1),) into which vacuum the deleteriousmatters contained in' the wood'iind their way, and ieave the pores openfor the reception of the preservative compound, said deleterious mattersand water of condensationl being driven from cylinder B, through cock l)at the bottom of said cylinder, by pressure of vapor ot'creosote orcarbolic acid from pipes H, through upper pipe f, into cylinder B, atvarious temperatures to about 3920 Fahrenheit, and the condensed waterdrawn out by an air-pump, if necessary.

In'addition to the steam used in cylinder A to melt the rosin andgenerate vapor from the creosote or carbolic acid, I use tire undercylinder A, which serves, after its use here, to generate steam inboiler connected therewith.

The preservative compounds in pipes II,I now force into the vacuum incylinder B, and into the open pores of the wood, and so continue toimpregnato the wood for about one or two hours, when the connection f,between H and B, is closed, and cock I, in the lower connection-pipe K,opened between cylinders A and B, and I allow the whole force ot' thesteam to enter cylinder A, at E, by means o f which I force the uid'rosin portion of the compound from A, through the lower connectionpipeK, into cylinder B, and into the pores of the wood, `thus sealing thevapor of creosote, or carbolic acid, or both, as the case may be, whichwere previously forced into the pores of the wood, thereby rendering thewood impervious to air or water. After the resinons portion of thecompound is forced from A to B, I close the connection K between thesecylinders, and allow sniiicient time for the iinid .to enter the wood,say two to four hours; at the same time, thc compound is kept hot by thecreosote or carbolicacid vapor, lowered to a temperature of about 3000,so as to produce a partial condensation, and allow the 'liquid resin tosniiicientlyenter the pores of the wood.

I next shut ou" steam from cylinder A, and obtain a vacuum in A bycondensation of the steam, and I open the cock I in pipe K, when thesteam in cylinder B will forceA the unused or residue of thepreservative compound, after ixnpregnating the wood, into the vacuum incylinder A, for re-use, without exposing it to the atmosphere, by meansof which a saving of labor is eifected, and the purity of the compoundpreserved.

The steam is allowed to pass over the wood in cylinder B, until it isentirely cleansed of the surplus rosin, which would otherwise adhere toit. After cooling, I remove the Wood from cylinder B, it being noWperfectly cured and ready for use, and I put into cyl-` inder B afreshsupply of Wood to be treated, and repeat the process in cylinders B andC alternately.

I dofnot use coal or Wood-tanunless the-water and naphtha are extractedtherefrom, for the reason that, when subjected to distillation, Water isproduced before either creosote or carbolic acid, and, generating intosteam, would enter the Vessel containing the wood before orsimultaneously with the vapor generated from either of theseantiseptics, and, at the same temperature, the force of the steam fromwater would be much greater than the force of the vapor generated fromthe antiseptics, and therefore, would enter the pores of the Wood,-andprevent the vapor ofcreosote or carbolic acid from entering, ormeasurably so. The var pors from the antiseptics would condense at amuch higher temperature than steam from water, and therefore, the vaporsfrom the antiseptics, if vthey hadsuficicnt force to enter Jche Wood,would be expelled, and leave the wood but partially coated.

For these reasons, I use `creosote or carbolic acid, and t-he reason Iuse pipes H is to prevent'the vapor from creosote or carbolic acid fromcoming in Contact with the s team generated from water.

From the above description, it Will be seen that I am enabled tocompletely saturate the wood withV the preservative compounds, by themeans employed to extract the deleterious matters from the Wood, andpermeate the pores and fibres of the wood with the preservativecompound; and, if desired, the Wood may be colored to any required shade`(which can be made from vegetable or other coloring-matter) for use infurniture, Wainscoting, or other purposes in which ornamental Wood maybe required, by adding the coloring-matter to the preservative compound.

I do not confine myself toany particular form of apparatus to conduct myprocess in, provided the principles specified are retained.

4herein specified.

tic and preservative materials are transferred from the containing tothe treating-cylinder or vessel, and the surplus returned to thecontaining-cylinder or vessel, without exposure to the atmosphere,substantially as Also, a containing-vessel or vessels, in which theantiseptic material, to be applied in theform of vapor,

-is kept separate from .the preservative material, to be 'applied inthe' liquid form, and from the steam. employed, as herein set forth.

Also, applying the antiseptic vapors free, as far as practicableyfromsteam, and the vapor of naphtha, and of other substances which vaporizeat a much lower temperature than. the antiseptic used, for the purposeherein set forth Also, the process herein described, as a whole, fortreatiugwood and timber, to preserve the same from mould and decay, whenconducted in transferring-vessels, Without exposure to the atmosphere,and iu the order as specified, namely, iirst,l coagulating the vegetablealbumen of the Wood, and extracting the deleterious substances therefromby steam, and the subsequent condensation of the steam to produce avacuum, andthe removal' of they extracted and condensed substances fromthe vessel second, impregnating the Wood with the simple antiseptici'apors of creosote or carbolic acid, 'and the subsequent lowering oftheternperature of the same, to produce a partial condensation thereof inthe Wood; third, sealing the pores of the wood by a` resinouspreservative substance while in a liquid state, andwhile retainedatahigh temperalture, substantially as set forth.

InJ testimony whereof@ haie hereunto set my signature, this 20th day ofApril, A. D. 1869.

' A. R. MCNAIR.

Vitnesses A. NEILL, ARTHUR B. WILLrAMs.

